


Twin Flames

by theaceupmyownsleeve



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Kyoko isn't naive, Oblivious Sawada Tsunayoshi, Pining, Sleepy Cuddles, Spoilers, kind of slow burn not really, lesbian fluff, she just selectively ignores boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25134160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theaceupmyownsleeve/pseuds/theaceupmyownsleeve
Summary: She saw how previous Namimori “School Idols” had fared. She knew that it was only a matter of time before the words stuck up were thrown around if she started handing out rejections left and right.So Kyoko Sasagawa pretended not to notice her admirers, until she could not help but notice a particular girl of her own.
Relationships: Miura Haru/Sasagawa Kyouko
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. Kindling

Sometimes Kyoko thought about how easy it was for the boys to project their thoughts onto her. She was relatively quiet, and the idea of speaking up always made her anxious, so most of the time she chose not to. Not to mention how easy it was to talk over her if she didn’t raise her voice from its usual level. She knew the people who did, especially Ryohei, did not mean to, but it did not help that pit that yawned in her stomach when they did. 

Ryohei and Kyoko were not close as children. He seemed to like the idea of having a sister more than actually having one, but Kyoko could not complain: they did care for one another. She knew Ryohei would do anything to protect her whether or not he understood her, and she would try to keep him safe as well as she could, even if she did not understand his passion for boxing. 

At least Hana listened to her, even if their personalities did not exactly match up— they had known eachother since they first began school. If she never learned where she would have ended up after meeting Tsuna, Kyoko would have been content to have Hana as her one and only friend for life. 

Namimori Middle School came at the same time she gained three inches and clear skin by some miracle, which was more than most kids her age could say, and Kyoko had found herself popular to some extent. Her newfound popularity was more to do with the fact that people thought her pretty and sweet more than anything she had said or done. Popular just meant that the school bullies left her alone, and sometimes the boys would blush and stutter when she spoke to them. For once, there were classmates who were even more tongue tied than her! 

Just before she met Tsuna, Kyoko was in one of the hardest stretches of her life so far. Some unknown gossiper had made the claim that Kyoko must be stupidly naive if she was hanging out with the upperclassman Mochida and did not realize what he wanted was to date her. 

Kyoko had hoped it would never come down to him asking her. He was in her leadership class and seemed to hang onto her every word when she spoke, no matter how softly. She considered him like a brother. 

Then he had claimed he could win her in a sport match and turned out to be every bit as bad as the gossiper had said.

“I’m not naive, or stupid,” she remembered saying to Hana, “I just don’t like to think the worst of people.”

“That’s why I’m here. To do that for you.” Hana had said, pulling such a grouchy face that Kyoko could not help but laugh.

The truth was that Kyoko was not the naive girl that many thought of her, too oblivious to notice the boys that fawned over her, and much too innocent to date them. 

She was simply not interested in them, no matter how much they pursued her. 

She saw how previous Namimori “School Idols” had fared. She knew that it was only a matter of time before the words  _ stuck up  _ were thrown around if she started handing out rejections left and right. 

So Kyoko Sasagawa pretended not to notice. 

Even Tsuna’s obvious crush on her, and the way eyes would glaze over whenever she was friendly to him, was easy enough to ignore after a time. For now, she was happy to have a sizable group of friends she could rely upon. 

She had not expected Haru. 

Normally, such an excitable, loud person made Kyoko uncomfortable, unless it was Ryohei. As she began to get to know Haru, she began to realize that it was because most of the excitable people she knew were boys who were way too interested in hitting things. 

When a girl got excited, like Haru did, she spent less energy talking over Kyoko and more pulling Kyoko into whatever made her excited. Brown eyes glowing and hands fluttering animatedly as she plucked at Kyoko’s sleeve, Haru would pull her into bakeries and clothes shops, down streets to pet dogs and cats, and over to young parents to wave to babies in strollers. 

And Kyoko could feel herself getting excited too. It was like diving into a pool holding hands like she had done when she was very young, all bumping elbows and churning waves. Haru had infected her with her excitement, and suddenly Kyoko felt her reservations fade.

She pulled Haru with her to do the things she liked to do as well, pointing out the prettiest gardens on their walks together, finding the movie posters that they thought looked like the most fun, and crafting paper and ribbons. She showed Haru how to make a good luck charm like the ones that her mother would always tuck into her school lunches when she was small.

Haru loved everything Kyoko showed her, and responded by modeling her sewing abilities for her as her ambition in costume creation grew. 

It was when Haru was spinning in front of Kyoko in her room, showing off a frankly ridiculous fish costume whose scales she had hand-sewn on herself, that Kyoko found she could not stop smiling. 

  
  



	2. Flickering, Fizzling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Shamal can leave and so can his stans

The day that Doctor Shamal came was one of the most uncomfortable in Kyoko’s life. While Tsuna and Reborn treated him with respect, it soon became clear that the man had absolutely none at all for anyone who could not give him what he wanted.

Kyoko stiffened as he draped an arm around her, repeating in her head that this man was not from Japan and he was to be their guest! He was to be their guest! She could not treat a guest with a cold shoulder. She would not. 

Bianchi could take care of herself, Kyoko could guess that from the brief time she had known her, but seeing the way Shamal had chased her made her want to throw up. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Shamal gave her a lecherous smirk, his loose eyes roaming.  _ No, THANK YOU SIR!  _

“You’re cute,” he grinned at her.

She laughed uncomfortably. “A funny man,” she said, trying to beg Tsuna with her eyes to  _ stop standing there, come help her!  _ “He keeps saying strange things.”

_ Finally  _ he unlatched himself from her and headed over to Tsuna, talking in a tone of voice that made Kyoko feel gross all over. She knew he had not done anything to her, that  _ she  _ had not done anything wrong, but shame prickled at the back of her neck nevertheless. 

She hurried home, telling herself firmly that Tsuna and Bianchi were more than capable of keeping the hack doctor distracted. After all, she had seen the writing scrawled over Tsuna’s body, that apparently needed Shamal’s attention, but that had nothing to do with her.

With a glance over her shoulder to make sure that no one was following her, she pulled her phone out of her purse and scrolled through her contacts, searching for Hana’s name. She stopped as it popped up. Just under it was another, one that made the prickling of her skin ease just at the sight.

She tapped it and held her phone up to her ear, listening to it ring on the other end. 

“Hi, Haru? It’s Kyoko.”

She quickly explained what happened, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. She knew how girls were treated, and had heard the stories of uncomfortable things happening on the train, especially on the way to school. She had just never thought that anyone would talk like that to her. 

She jumped in place as a figure rounded the corner at a sprint, heading straight for her.

Kyoko tensed, grabbing for her purse, before she recognized Haru running toward her. 

“You said you came from Tsuna’s house and were going to yours, so I figured out where you were and came as fast as I could!” Haru doubled over to clutch her knees, panting. 

“Oh! Thank you!” Kyoko replied, startled as she reached down to help her friend up. 

Suddenly, she found herself face to face with Haru, whose cheeks were flushed and eyes were bright with exertion.  _ Close enough to kiss?  _ The thought came to her unbidden. She firmly pushed it away. The relief must have been messing with her head. 

“I’ll walk you home,” Haru said, grabbing her hand. “I don’t want you to have to be alone after what you told me.”

“Thank you, Haru,” Kyoko repeated, her face heating.

“By the way, is there anything going on with you and Tsuna-san?” The tone was just a shade too casual to be anything but forced.

“No, nothing.”

“Good, because I…” Haru bit her lip, leaning forward to whisper, “I really like him. I think he might ask me to be his girlfriend soon!” 

“You two would be really cute together!” Kyoko replied. She meant it. 

So why was there the twinge of disappointment in her chest? 

  
\--- 

Waiting for Lambo to wake up was even worse. 

Sitting only half coherent in the hospital with I-Pin in her lap and her brain numb with exhaustion day after day was wearing her down. 

Only Haru’s constant optimism and I-Pin’s obvious affection for the boy who was, for all purposes that mattered, her brother, was keeping Kyoko upright. In spite of their resilience, she could see the dark circles under Haru’s eyes and the droop of I-Pin’s braid. 

They had pushed Nana to go home, but they did not even have to say it out loud to know that she and Haru would stay until Lambo’s eyes opened. 

Trying to keep herself awake, Kyoko reached for one of the napkins that had come with the cups of coffee the hospital gave out and began to fold it into a paper crane.

“They say a thousand paper cranes will make a wish come true,” Haru remarked.

“We could fold that many if we got proper paper,” she replied, “It could be a sweet surprise for Lambo when he wakes up.” 

“Let’s do it!” Haru shouted, grabbing onto Kyoko’s arm. She shot a guilty look at Lambo and lowered her voice, “You have the paper, and I can follow your lead! It will be a great welcome back party for Lambo!”

“I want to help too!” I-Pin chimed in, “I’m good at paper folding!”

“Of course!” Haru squeezed her hand.

“So we’re doing this?” Kyoko looked at each of the girls in turn. They nodded, Haru excitedly, I-Pin fiercely. “I’ll go get the paper then.”

“And I’ll call Bianchi. She’ll want to help too!” 

As Kyoko hurried home in the dead of night, feeling warm in spite of the cold sterile hospital she knew she would return to, she thought that there was no one else in the world she wanted to do things like this with.

Being with Haru, taking care of the kids together… Some part of Kyoko’s mind thought of them as their kids. It was not as if anyone but Nana and Bianchi took much note of their needs as children. Whatever had happened to Lambo, Tsuna and the others had acted in some part as though his injury had been only a matter of time. Yes, Lambo was reckless, but that was all the more reason for her and Haru to watch out for him! 

Kyoko cared a great deal for the kids, but she also cared about Haru.

Her heart began beating faster as she mulled over her friendship with them. Whether it was anxiety about Lambo or something else, she did not know.

What she did know was that there were no other people she would rather stay up until the crack of dawn decorating a hospital room with.

Would Kyoko even have had the idea if Haru had not said what she said? 

She knew she would fold a thousand paper cranes for Lambo even if I-Pin and Haru were not with her, but the room would only be that much colder.

  
  
  



	3. Catching Sparks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Future bunker cuddles

The righteous fury welling up in Kyoko’s body had been so strong a moment ago. Why  _ wouldn’t  _ the boys tell her and Haru anything? They had decided to boycott. No dinner for the boys unless they let the two of them in on whatever they were training for. They weren’t dumb. They knew it was some threat, likely the same threat that had catapulted them into the future. Surely, if they knew what was happening, they could do something to make it better. They could not prepare for the unknown. 

But then, seeing the cut on Chrome’s back… 

It was as if Kyoko’s entire body had been plunged into ice water. Her throat worked, trying to get the words out, to make a sound, but the sight of the grisly wound stole the breath from her lungs. 

They had ended the boycott, not wanting to make anything that much harder for their defenders, but they both wanted to know.

They had taken to eavesdropping around corners and in halls, trying to glean whatever information they could.

Overhearing Tsuna discussing the true threat was a relief to Kyoko.

For Haru, it was as if her world had turned upside down. She had come to Kyoko sobbing, her calm facade crumbling. 

“I can go get you a glass of water,” she offered, but Haru shook her head, huddled on Kyoko’s

bed, her whole body shaking with hiccuping sobs.   
Kyoko rubbed her back as she finally spoke.

“I thought I loved him, but now? I don’t know. We were in that much danger and he did not even think to tell me? Tell us? We still are in that much danger! He could have died and we would never have found out why!” 

“Maybe he wanted to protect you.” Kyoko knew that was why Ryohei had not told her, but she expected that sort of behavior from him. 

“If he liked me as much as I liked him, he would have known that I needed to know!” Her sentences were pained and stilted, muffled by her hands as she cried into them. “I wanted to know, and I’m glad he told me, but I can’t help but think that if we had known earlier, we could have done something before it got this bad!”

“What could we have done?”

“I don’t know what, just something. I feel like a fool for trusting him when he said everything was fine. Then he went off to play soldier. Is that what it would be like to be with him? Would I be the last one to know everything, because I was to be  _ protected?”  _ She reached up to grip Kyoko’s shoulders, pinning her with wide, teary brown eyes. “Don’t you feel betrayed?”

“I don’t, Haru, I’m sorry.” Kyoko shook her head. “I’m usually the last to know. That’s how it always is with Ryohei and I.”

“My father tells my mother everything about his work, and if it concerns me, they tell me.” Haru’s eyes began to well up again. “I’m not used to being on the sidelines. I feel useless.”

“You’re not useless, Haru!”

“I am! I would be better off in the past!” Her face crumpled. “It would be better for everyone if I wasn’t here.” 

“Oh, Haru…” Kyoko pulled her close. Her tears were soaking into her sweater, but Kyoko could not bring herself to care. “I would not be able to keep on going if you weren’t here. You mean so much to me. Don’t ever think you are not important.” She pressed a gentle kiss to Haru’s soft cheek. “I mean it.” 

Haru’s arms tightened around her, pushing her head into her shoulder like an affectionate cat. Her hair tickled Kyoko’s nose, smelling of soap, and in spite of her tears, and of the danger, Kyoko felt safe holding onto Haru. Somehow, if she could protect her from this doubt and desperation, it seemed like everything would be okay. 

She rubbed circles on Haru’s back with one hand and reached up to card her fingers through her deep brown hair with the other, taking care to trace the direction of her hair whorl. If her hair was Kyoko’s length, it would stick up. Kyoko could not help but feel fond at the thought, especially when Haru sighed deeply, the tension slowly leaving her body as her hair was played with. 

Little hiccups still worked their way through her body, but Kyoko held her tightly through it until she collapsed in a boneless heap in Kyoko’s lap. 

“I’ve got you,” she whispered to her gently, watching her dark eyelashes flutter against her sticky cheeks. 

“Thank you, Kyoko.” Haru reached up to grab Kyoko’s slightly damp shoulder, pulling her down next to her into a hug. “I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here.”

There was a moment of silence that Kyoko did not expect Haru to break.

“Do you mind if I stay here with you tonight?”

“Of course,” she breathed, her heart pounding as Kyoko rolled over, reaching for the blanket to pull it up over the two of them. 

Kyoko’s arm hovered over her, unsure of whether to turn over as well so that they were back to back, before finally settling it over Haru’s side. She pulled her close to wrap her body around hers, her knees to the back of Haru’s, her face nestled in her neck. 

Haru reached up to pull her hair back over her shoulder so that Kyoko could breathe, blinking back at her with a smile in the semi darkness. 

They fell asleep like that, cuddled together in the dark, their bodies fitting like puzzle pieces.

If one of the boys had popped in to check on them, it would have been impossible to tell where Kyoko ended and Haru began.

Even in that harsh new world, for the moment, they felt safe.

  
  



	4. Rising Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy xo

Kyoko still thought about that kiss on the cheek, months later. Or years earlier, depending on one’s perspective. Even after experiencing time travel, it did not make any more sense to her.

Yet time travel was  _ still  _ less of a paradox than the butterflies that took wing in her stomach whenever Haru was around her. Surely Tsuna could never make her feel that way, no matter how many times his eyes glazed over when she entered the room. 

Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if she had moved that kiss down, kissed her properly on the lips. 

_ No.  _ Haru had been crying. She would never have taken advantage of her that way. Especially not her best friend. She would never do anything to push her boundaries. Nevermind something that would ruin their friendship beyond repair. 

Even if she wanted to know  _ what if.  _

Even if Nana had commented on her being more distracted lately. And Kyoko did  _ not  _ like the knowing look that Bianchi had sent her. 

She was on her way to Tsuna’s house now, and the knowledge that Haru would be there sent even more wings aflutter. 

“Kyoko Sasagawa!” 

She squeaked, jumping away from the baby suddenly emerging from the bush beside her. “Reborn!” Kyoko squinted at him. “What are you wearing?”

“I am not Reborn. I am master PaoPao.”

Right, of course. How could she not have recognized those neon blue elephant ears? “Of course, Master PaoPao. What is it you need?”

“Reborn sent for me. He wants you and Haru to be trained so that you can take care of yourselves.”

“Uh… good! Of course!” The image of Chrome’s wound,  _ of that happening to Haru!  _ filled her mind. 

“I was going to wait until we made it to the house, but…” Master PaoPao pulled a very familiar gun from under his elephant hat. 

_ Oh no. No. No. No.  _ She had seen first hand what happened to Tsuna when he had been shot with the Dying Will bullet. She had several dreams of herself getting hit with it. They might have been nightmares. One involved cake. 

She shook herself.

She was literally staring down the barrel of a gun, and she was thinking about  _ cake!?  _

“Just die once, Kyoko.”

“Can’t we talk about this, Reborn? Master PaoPao?!” 

The gunshot shattered through her protests, and her body flew backwards across the concrete. 

Kyoko Sasagawa’s vision was suddenly filled with nothing but sky, her ears ringing wildly. 

And then there was brilliant indigo fire, everywhere at once, the heat and light pushing every anxiety she had ever had from her body. 

She was not a weak link in the Vongola. She never had been. And she would not die without telling the girl she loved what she thought of her. 

_ She’d be at Tsuna’s house.  _ Kyoko was more certain of that than she ever had been about anything in her life. She sprinted down the street the rest of the way, ignoring the open mouths and turning heads of the passerby. 

She did not bother with the latch on the gate, vaulting into the Sawada’s front yard without her feet ever touching the ground. She leapt over Lambo, on his way out the front door with a juice box, his eyes as wide as dinner plates as he beheld her…

And there in the kitchen was Haru, talking with Bianchi.

All at once, Lambo in the doorway did not matter. Bianchi’s knowing wink did not matter. 

Nothing mattered but the fact that Kyoko Sasagawa was determined not to die with words unspoken. She would not die with regrets.

“Kyoko! Where are your clothes?” Haru’s mouth hung open. 

Kyoko barely registered the jacket Bianchi was throwing over her, the words rushing out of her mouth in a single breath. “Haru, I have loved you deeply as your friend. I will continue loving you in that way if you reject me. But the feelings I have for you go beyond friendship. I want to kiss you.” The boldness of the final statement caught Kyoko off guard, and she pressed both hands over her mouth. The indigo fire at her forehead was growing cold now that her dying wish was fulfilled. 

In that moment, she was aware of only one thing. “Am I naked under this jacket?”

“Yup. Return it once you’re done.” Bianchi replied over her shoulder. “Okay, kiddo, show’s over,” she announced to Lambo, tugging him into the Sawada yard and shutting the door behind her. 

“Haru, I am so sorry,” Kyoko whispered, her face aflame once again, a raging scarlet. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“No, don’t apologize. Reborn was the one that shot you.” Haru’s voice was hoarse. 

“I should not have let myself be shot! I know you like Tsuna, but…”

“No, Kyoko. That’s where you’re wrong. I don’t. Not anymore. Not as much as you.” Haru dropped her gaze to the floor. “Everyone thinks of me as the girl who chases Tsuna, and you as Ryohei’s sister. Won’t it make things awkward? The two of us together?” She was as red as Kyoko at this point. “I know you did not consent to confessing your feelings, and if it would make things easier for you, I can pretend it never happened.” 

Hesitation. A painful swallow. 

Kyoko could barely breathe as Haru spoke again. 

But if you did mean what you said…” she trailed off, tugging at the bow on her uniform collar. 

“I meant what I said,” Kyoko said, so softly that Haru had to lean forward to hear her. “I do want to kiss you.” 

Haru looked up, her eyes round. “You do?”

“I do. Do...” she let out a breath. Everything was so much harder than it had been a few minutes ago. If the bullet was supposed to show her how to live without regrets, it had done a horrible job. “Do you want to kiss me?”

“I don’t know how,” Haru murmured, more to Kyoko’s shoes than anything. “I learned everything I know about romance from movies, and movies never showed how a girl should kiss a girl. Whether it’s different. I don’t want to do it wrong.”

“I don’t know how either. We can start slow if you want.”

“Please.” Haru squeezed her eyes shut, reaching for Kyoko’s hand with fumbling fingers. She clung back, listening to the soft noise that came from deep in Haru’s throat as she squeezed.

They reached for each other's faces with their other hands at the same time, knuckles knocking together. Kyoko found herself laughing dizzily as Haru wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, leaning in as she ran soft fingers over Haru’s cheek. She slid her hand back into her hair, stroking gently as she had the night they had cuddled. 

She leaned in, hardly believing her luck, that she was here in the right timeline, kissing that same girl she had held so tightly then, unsure whether they would survive the week. 

Haru pushed forward excitedly as their lips met. Their teeth clacked together and they were giggling again, before Kyoko leaned forward and covered Haru’s grinning mouth with her own. 

Her lips were soft against Kyoko’s, tasting faintly of cotton candy lip gloss. 

In an instant, Haru melted against her, reaching up to tangle her fingers in Kyoko’s short hair and drag her mouth closer to hers, with an intensity Kyoko had only ever dreamed of.

They would be interrupted eventually. She knew it in the rational part of her mind. They were standing in the Sawada kitchen. Eventually one of the guardians would come wandering through the door. 

Kyoko didn’t care.

They could have been sent to the future again and she would not have cared. 

This day had gone better than she could ever have estimated.

And Haru was kissing her back.

  
  



End file.
